Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. By any means necessary. No holds barred. And cold beer.
I'd like to meet:
Eddie and Joanna, the world's best bartender, at Doc Holliday's, July 26, 2007. Photo by Kevin Fitzpatrick.
Eddie and Alyssa, the driving force behind Trailer Trash Thursdays, at Doc Holliday's, July 26, 2007. Photo by Kevin Fitzpatrick.
Alexa, Eddie, Denise & Amber at Gotham Boxing, NYC, Feb. 22, 2007.
Eddie interviews Matt Lindland at IFL show, Dec. 29, 2006, Mohegan Sun. Photo by Keisha Morrisey.
Eddie interviews John Duddy, Sept. 27, 2006.
Eddie interviews Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sept. 6, 2006. Photo by Bernadette Robinson.
Eddie interviews Laila Ali, Madison Square Garden, Sept. 19, 2006. Photo by Jerry Glick, SecondsOut.com.
Matthew, Uncle Eddie, and Brian Goldman.
Steve Fraser, Renzo Gracie, Rulon Gardner, me, Kevin Bracken. Photo by Gary Abbott.
Eddie with Larry Hazzard Sr., Commissioner of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and Nick Lembo, Counsel to the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, in Atlantic City, Dec. 1, 2006. Photo by Keisha Morrisey.
Intelligent and socially conscious people from this or another planet.
If I have a hunch that you'd be the kind of person with whom I'd like to share a beer or five, I might send you a request to be a friend-- whether or not you drink, and whether or not we'd actually ever meet, which is probably unlikely anyway. If we have at least one thing in common which is important to either you or me, I'd probably send a request as well -- even if we're miles apart on something else. If we know each other already, which has happened a couple of times here, and neither of us hates the other, it's just about automatic. And as for meeting new people found here in real life -- as they say in boxing, you never know.
Music:
From John Coltrane to Johnny Cash, Jackie Wilson to Gretchen Wilson, Charlie Parker to Charley Pride, Willie Nelson to Nelson Riddle, Frank to Hank, Billie Holiday to Merle Haggard, Miles Davis to Sam Cooke, Public Enemy to David Allan Coe, The Fugs to Fela, Nina Simone to Toby Keith, James Brown to Big & Rich, Eddie Palmieri to Kinky Friedman, Robert Randolph to Randy Crawford, Leela James to Elmore James, John Legend to Johnny Legend, and bluegrass to the blues.
Movies:
Casablanca, Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Gladiator, Fight Club, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Burn, Night and the City (1950), Brother from Another Planet, Kentucky Fried Movie, anything with original Three Stooges, Duck Soup, A Thousand Clowns, Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song. Anything with Pam Grier, even the Tarantino crap. The God Who Wasn't There. And, of course, the ones I was in: The Smashing Machine, Marquis de Slime, and Fight Day.
Television:
Boxing (especially on Showtime and ESPN Classic), EliteXC, YAMMA Pit Fighting, International Fight League, Strikeforce, college wrestling, USA Wrestling events, GAC (especially Edge of Country and Master Series), CMT, Penn & Teller's Bullshit, Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, L-Word, Desperate Housewives, Simpsons, Ricky Gervais, Catherine Tate (Am I bovvered?), SCTV, The Shield, The Wire, and Oz R.I.P. Favorite button on remote: POWER OFF.
Books:
The single most influential book I ever read was in high school, just after it came out: "The Autobiography of Malcolm X." Most of his other writings and speeches, especially in the last year of his life, too. And I almost forgot Langston Hughes, especially his writings about his freshman year at Columbia, which I read during my freshman year at Columbia. Also numerous works by C.L.R. James and even Hegel and Rosa Luxemburg. I guess Karl and Groucho Marx, too. "Why I Am Not A Christian" by Bertrand Russell. Anything by Richard Dawkins. When I'm drunk, Bukowski. "Tokyo Underworld" by Robert Whiting. Almanacs, dictionaries, atlases, and encyclopediae. The only novel on this list: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. Sports books: "I Never Played The Game" by Howard Cosell. "The Great Olympic Swindle" by Andrew Jennings. "A Hard Road To Glory" by Arthur Ashe. "Cut Time" by Carlo Rotella. "Combat Sports in the Ancient World" by Michael Poliakoff. "Encyclopedia of American Wrestling" by Mike Chapman. "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton. Note that these were all influential, and positively so. That, however, doesn't mean that I agree with everything in them. But now go out and read them all, y'all.
Heroes:
People who play with balloons.
